The allegation made by Ecuador’s Prosecutor’s Office regarding the possible involvement of FARC dissidents, an illegal armed group of Colombian origin, in the assassination of then-presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio confirms previous claims by President Daniel Noboa about the infiltration of criminal activity across the border between the two countries.
Five months after launching one of the most complex investigations in the neighboring country’s judicial history, the Public Prosecutor’s Office presented details before a court that, if fully confirmed, would for the first time link Colombian armed structures to a political assassination on Ecuadorian soil.
In a charging hearing that went beyond the judicial sphere to become a subject of public debate in Quito and Bogota, prosecutors stated that the execution of the crime was not solely the work of local gangs but part of a transnational criminal network.
According to the indictment filed before judges of the National Court of Justice, a faction of FARC dissidents allegedly participated as an operational link in the planning and execution of the attack in which Villavicencio lost his life on Aug. 9, 2023.
Ecuador prosecutor ties Colombian armed groups to Villavicencio’s 2023 murder
Villavicencio’s assassination occurred at a time of high political tension and rising violence in Ecuador, where organized crime has gained prominence in recent years.
Ecuador’s Prosecutor’s Office had for months linked a gang known as Los Lobos to the attack, accusing its leader, Wilmer Chavarria, alias “Pipo,” of coordinating and supervising the hitmen who killed the politician at a campaign event in Quito.
But it was within that same proceeding that prosecutors announced a new dimension: Cooperation between that Ecuadorian criminal organization and FARC dissidents, an illegal Colombian armed group that did not demobilize after the 2016 peace agreement and continues to operate in several border areas and drug trafficking routes.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, a protected witness identified as M.N.L.S. stated that one of Los Lobos’ operators, alias Gordo Luis, was responsible “for delivering a large sum of money to FARC dissidents to hire the hitmen who assassinated Fernando Villavicencio.”
That account, which prosecutors describe as part of their theory of the case, implies that without the participation of that Colombian armed group, it would not have been possible to organize the logistics or secure the financing necessary to carry out the assassination.
Prosecutors also detailed that the hitmen responsible for the murder were mostly Colombian and that their presence in Ecuador and their modus operandi indicated a connection to more complex criminal networks that extend beyond local gangs.
Part of that information comes from the captured suspects themselves and from testimony provided by individuals under judicial protection, who describe channels of communication and coordination between Los Lobos and dissident structures that, according to authorities, operate as organized armed groups based on drug trafficking routes and illicit economies shared between Colombia and Ecuador.
#CasoMagnicidioFV | #FiscalíaEc vincula a alias “Pipo”, “Lobo Menor” y “Gordo Luis” por su presunta participación en el #Asesinato del excandidato presidencial Fernando V. El ataque habría sido coordinado por encargo de otros procesados. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/RBMskLU8LY
— Fiscalía Ecuador (@FiscaliaEcuador) February 10, 2026
Reactions and political context
The revelation of the alleged involvement of FARC dissident groups in a crime of this nature triggered an immediate diplomatic jolt between Quito and Bogota.
Although Colombian authorities have not officially confirmed those links, the Ecuadorian accusation came in a context in which President Daniel Noboa declared Colombian armed groups military targets following attacks in the Ecuadorian Amazon and other violent incidents along the border.
While some political sectors in Ecuador applauded the Prosecutor’s Office’s decisiveness in pursuing every angle of the case, others criticized expanding the charges could politicize a process that has already been marked by tensions and mutual accusations.
For some analysts, linking FARC dissidents to a political assassination reinforces the perception that organized violence in the region has spread beyond traditional drug trafficking and now directly influences politics and national security.
The situation of uncertainty also raised questions about the need to strengthen judicial and police cooperation mechanisms among countries in the region.
The Ecuadorian government, for its part, has faced internal pressure to deepen security strategies in border areas with Colombia, where clashes and actions by dissident groups have been reported, including the so-called Border Commands and other fronts.
The presence of these groups in Ecuadorian territory has been a constant source of concern for authorities, who argue that their activities not only enrich criminal gangs but also erode sovereignty and the rule of law in rural and urban communities near the shared border.
In fact, complaints about the alleged inaction of Colombian authorities in effectively combating these criminal groups involved in drug trafficking have, for weeks, strained political and commercial relations between Ecuador and Colombia.
Who was Fernando Villavicencio?
Fernando Villavicencio was a prominent figure in Ecuadorian politics and a well-known journalist and investigator before fully entering the electoral arena. His career was marked by a long struggle against corruption and power networks that he considered obstacles to transparency and justice in Ecuador.
Before his assassination, Villavicencio had exposed cases involving public officials and business actors in corruption schemes that shook the country’s political life, earning him both admirers and staunch enemies.
His death in August 2023 while he was participating in a campaign event in Quito shocked Ecuador and the rest of Latin America, prompting international condemnation and calls to quickly clarify the circumstances of the attack.
The Organization of American States (OAS) described the assassination as an attack on democracy and demanded thorough investigations to identify both the direct perpetrators and the masterminds behind the crime.
Today, more than two years after his death, the Villavicencio case remains a focal point in the debate over political violence, transnational crime, and the capacity of states to protect their citizens from threats that do not respect borders.
The revelations about the possible participation of FARC dissident groups in his assassination add another layer of complexity to the dynamics of criminality and its transnational relationships.